Wooden Canoe Links
Canoe Information and Resources:
The Kettle River Canoes Blog - I publish weekly articles on canoe repair tips as well as stories about wooden canoes and the people who love them. Once there, you can comment or submit your own stories about the canvas canoes in your life.
Wooden Canoe Heritage Association - The center of the wooden canoe cyber-universe.
NorthWest Chapter of the WCHA - A great group to be a part of for us canoe folks in the west.
Canadian Canoe Museum - Over 600 antique canoes and kayaks (about a third of them original birchbark and skin boats) in their collection.
Cesar's Bark Canoe - This is a 57-minute documentary made by the National Film Board of Canada in 1971. There is no commentary. Instead, the camera simply lets Cesar's hands do the talking as he builds a beautiful bark canoe with not much more than an axe, a knife and an awl.
Boatbuilding.com - links and information on materials, supplies and techniques.
Canoe Links Page - A long list of links on things canoe.
Ottertooth Links - Wood-Canvas links page and links to articles on lots of neat stuff.
Selling a Wood-Canvas Canoe - I am often asked, "How much is my wood-canvas canoe worth?" This article from my blog attempts to address that question with a few facts and a couple of antecdotes.
Canoe Identification Guide - "Who made my wood-canvas canoe?" This is an extensive guide to help answer that question.
Ivy Lea Shirt Company - Celebrating Canada's historic canoe companies - Chestnut, Peterborough, Canadian - with clothing, posters, postcards and more.
Bearwood Canoes - Located in Ontario, Pam Webb provides a wealth of information in a number of articles. She builds beautiful canoes based on the lines of the Chestnut Pal.
Skywoods Canoes - Based in Vermont, Scott Barkdoll provides new and used wooden canoes as well as a wide variety of information, books and resources.
Old Town Canoes - The grand daddy of all canoe companies. They still make wood-canvas canoes in their factory in Old Town, Maine. Old Town canoes provided the basis for the first Chestnut canoes built in New Brunswick in 1905.
Northwoods Canoes - Rollin Thurlow, based in Maine, is a master canoe artisan, author and mentor to almost everyone in the business. He is a wealth of information.
Local links:
Boundary Country: The Trans Canada Trail is Our Backyard - World-class trails and canoeing.
Christina Lake - "The warmest tree-lined lake in British Columbia" and a fantastic site.
BC Angler - As far as I'm concerned, a passion for wooden canoes and a passion for fly fishing go hand-in-hand.
Sport Fishing BC - An extensive site with lots of information on BC fly patterns and much more.
Canoeing the Rivers in the Kootenays - This gives a nice overview of some of the canoeing options in the area.
Canoeing the Slocan River - Detailed information on this river - put-ins, take-outs, difficulty classifications, etc.
Grand Forks Weather - Coming to visit? Check out the weather in the Sunshine Valley.
Wildways - Kayak sales and great guided lake and river tours of the region.
Canoeing Links:
Paddling Video (Canadian Style) - There is a lot more to paddling than just going in a straight line as fast as possible. Check out this great demonstration of paddling - Canadian style.
Waterwalker by Bill Mason - This feature-length documentary (87-minutes long made in 1984) follows naturalist Bill Mason on his journey by canoe into the Ontario wilderness. The filmmaker and artist begins on Lake Superior, then explores winding and sometimes tortuous river waters to the meadowlands of the river's source. Enjoy.
Seven Wonders of Canada - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has a contest to name the seven wonders of Canada. The top choice? Guess. What makes us Canadian is defined by the fact that we spent 300 years in canoes. Compromise rather than conflict. Negotiation rather than conquest. Focussing on the needs of the group rather than looking out for number one. That is the essence of canoe culture.